Facebook is on the verge of launching a personal assistant that’ll reduce Siri to the utility of a musk ox.
Its name is M, and it uses the collective wisdom of the internet to communicate with humans as an effective researcher and a reasonable conversation partner. It can explain the intricacies of Snapchat, probably write your PhD, and even helped one guy lower his Comcast bill.
.@fwd M lowered my comcast bill today XD pic.twitter.com/aiiGrNg6Ah
— neil kodner (@neilkod) October 14, 2015
Buzzfeed’s Alex Kantrowitz recently took M for a spin to reveal its astonishing capability. M helped Alex find the best vegetarian restaurant within five blocks given a specific address (complete with Yelp reviews) and book a flight, which is where shit got real. M used every trick in the book to find the cheapest flight, direct Alex to the booking, ask for payment (which can be done in the Facebook Messenger app), and send confirmation.
This exchange was particularly amusing:
Except it probably won’t ask or obey commands to not store your personal information. Like all great things on the internet, advertising will undoubtedly become part of the equation. So instead of getting a recommendation for the best restaurant or flight, you’ll likely get one for a sponsored partner.
But for now, let’s all just revel in how close we are to living the Skynet dream.
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